Valos city had three great academies.

Miracle Academy. Established by the army.

Justice Academy. Established by the governor of the city: Shadir

Honor Academy. Established by the top powers of the city.

They acted as checks and balances to each other. After Pluto war, however, Honor academy was on a rise.

Miracle academy was still the undisputed first, but no one knew how long it'd stay that way.

While common man sent their children to academies that offered best opportunities, the powerful men sent their children to academies to create opportunities.

For instance, Miracle academy was a great place to establish a network with future army officers.

Justice academy allowed one to befriend the future bureaucrats.

Honor academy…it was the mini-society of Valos. If you thrived there, chances were, you'd also thrive in the real world.

Despite the varied advantages, the question of 'Who's the best' came up every year.

It was answered through a teaming duel: Inter-academy competition.

Cadets from first to third years participate in individual duels, and group duels to decide who's the best of the best.

Like every year, this year too, people from all over Valos came to see the grand competition.

No academy had a stadium large enough to accommodate the audience. Thus, the competition was always conducted in the Valos Stadium in the center of the city.

It was one hour before the start of the tournament and the stadium was already bustling.

The hologram advertisements were in full swing as every company that burnt money to buy the slot did its best to reign in customers.

Though Valos had a lot of poor people, it also had rich ones. After all, its population was 30 million.

"Do you think Miracle Academy can still keep the title this year?"

"How do you think we fare compared to the planetary geniuses?"

"You are the seeded team of the Honor Academy. Are you confident in winning the first?"

The reporters swarmed like worms and buzzed like bees, splattering the contestants, organizers and whoever related to the event they could find with endless questions.

That also included a certain team from Miracle Academy.

Betty, Liluh and Vinar in academy's special uniform—red dress with royal gold edges, were bombarded with questions.

"Miss Betty, as the daughter of one of the highest army officers, are you confident in winning and upholding the army's glory?"

"Mr. Liluh, you are heir to one of the biggest philanthropist families of Valos, do you have any charity activities planned if you win?"

"Mr. Vinar, your master is one of the few level 8s of our city. Many question his decision to take you as his only disciple. What do you think?"

Betty was proud and arrogant, but neither eloquent nor social adept. She flinched at their questions and looked behind.

Tasss—

The reporters froze all of a sudden and Betty escaped onto the main stage.

"Haaa~"

"What was that?"

They could breathe once again and questioned what just happened.

"Space…froze."

"Heuk."

The reporters found Betty's bodyguards sitting in the front rows—closest to the stages.

"Forget it."

"Yeah."

"I don't want to die."

They wanted to escape from these devilish high awakeners.

Vinar shook his head and walked onto the stage.

Liluh on the other hand grabbed the mike and smiled at the cameras. "We have decided to build a children's hospital this year. Children are our future. We must protect them. This hospital is a small contribution from my Grant family."

"Woooh!"

"Write that down! Write that down!"

"But boss, it's live."

"…."

The reporters exploded showing extreme reactions. This was definitely big news for the common public.

'As expected. Maintain a positive image in public. They'll never link you to the insidious things you do in the dark.' Liluh flashed a bright smile and walked onto the stage.

He was last of the participants from all academies. And thus, the opening ceremony began.

*** *** ****

After a long ass speech by an N number of people common to every big event, the competition finally kicked off.

The individual duels began first.

The numerous stages were quickly filled as quick matches kicked off between hundreds of cadets.

Fire, Water, Thunder, Earth.

Body, Mind, Morpher.

Space, Gravity.

Every power was seen and clash of each power with every other power was also seen.

After four hours of continuous, intense duels, the results were out.

First year—Honor Academy clinched the championship, defying all expectations.

Miracle Academy, for the first time lost against Honor Academy.

Second year—Justice Academy won.

Third year—Miracle Academy finally had one first.

After an hour break of recuperation filled with countless ads, the battle Royale began.

Each academy sent three teams per year. Thus, nine teams per year in total.

For the battle Royale, the stages were modified.

Earlier, there was one main stage and quite a few sub stages holding duels.

Now, all the stages were combined. A glassy dome covered the stage, preventing it from any external influence. Despite how it looked, the dome could take a couple of hits from level 7 and not break.

It might seem over the top, but in the past, a powerful family head saw his son was being beaten and in anger, he attacked his son's opponents.

By the time others reacted, it was too late.

What happened to them?

Well, they died.

So, it was unanimously decided to protect the contestants by investing in a very expensive dome.

The environment on the one big stage was modified and was filled with hills, lakes and small forests.

The nine teams entered the stage and the doom closed.

"Start!"

*** *** *** ***

Edwina watched the match from the second-best seating. It didn't make her feel any more relieved.

In fact, her heart was pounding like an engine on steroids.

"The second year battle Royale, start!"

The announcement reverberated across the stadium followed by cheers.

'Oh fuck! Arggghh' Edwina cursed inside as she rubbed her sweaty palms. How the fuck would they kidnap from this stadium?

There were a few level 8s attending the competition for fuck's sake!

Or maybe it was after the competition?

Or maybe the kidnap was a hoax after all. The intelligence department of Shadow Guardians made a mistake, perhaps?

Normally, Edwina wasn't like this. She prepared for her mission thoroughly and followed her intricate plan to the last letter.

Her nine missions were successful because of her planning. But this mission?

Heh.

'Edgar!' Edwina wanted to yell at him. If he only accepted the mission properly, with his fake mysterious background and his own strength, using her info on Betty, he would've been close to Betty now.

But no. He fucking changed the mission! And the higher ups actually approved it!

Edwina didn't know what was going on anymore. Nor did she want to think about it.

She only wanted this mission to end. And to never see see that guy's face or hear his voice again.

"Yo."

"Hey—Argg—!" Edwina returned the greeting before abruptly letting out a scream and barely stopping it from biting her tongue.

A few people gave them ambigious eyes and turned back to watching the competition.

"W-What the fuck are you doing here?" Edwina tapped her comm and sent the message.

Varian grinned widely and turned his gaze to the stage.

His eyes narrowed and he muttered.

"It begins."

—Boom!

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